The four members of the U.S. International Trade Commission today each proposed a combination of remedies for President Trump to consider in a safeguard investigation into solar imports, including quantitative restrictions, tariff-rate quotas and the launch of international negotiations.
[Isabelle Hoagland | October 31, 2017 | Inside US Trade]
After unanimously voting on Sept. 22 that the U.S. domestic industry was seriously injured by the imports, each commissioner today offered remedy proposals to be included in a final report to the president, due on Nov. 13. The report will be made public “promptly” after its submission, according to Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Trump, in consultation with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, has until Jan. 12 to make a decision on how to proceed based on the report’s recommendations. The White House did not response to requests for comment on the ITC’s Oct. 31 recommendations.
Safeguard investigations are not country-specific and can lead to a ban on all imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules for up to four years. CSPV cells are a key input of solar panels.
